Changes to the formulary

Barbadians are being assured that they have nothing to fear from the addition of some generic brands of medication on the drug formulary.

Acting chief medical officer Dr. Kenneth George was speaking at a meeting between the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to address concern over changes to the formulary.

He says many developed countries are using generic drugs in their health care systems.

Dr. George says the move away from brand name drugs on the formulary was not a deliberate one.

Stakeholders in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors now have a better idea of how to implement the changes to the drug formulary.

Just under two weeks ago, Minister of Health John Boyce had announced that following some enquiries, the ministry would engage in dialogue with stakeholders to address their concerns over the changes to the formulary.

After a meeting between the ministry and stakeholders, Senior Health Officer Dr. Anton Best says they were able to come to a common understanding on how to implement the changes going forward.

Dr. Best says the cutoff date of June 30th will give doctors a chance to transition their patients to new drugs.

In addition, he says they are working on improving communication between the ministry and key stakeholders.